Watson Lake, YK – August 22, 2018
Aug 29th, 2018 by rallyadmin
The fires are now a quite close to Dease Lake and as recently as last week, we weren’t sure that the rally would be able to get through Dease Lake which was then under a mandatory evacuation order. Luckily for us (but not so much for the locals), the evacuation order had been lifted for Dease Lake and we continue up the Cassiar Highway across the Yukon border.
Though the evacuation order has been lifted, the smoke is so bad on the way up to Dease Lake, that some sections of the road are dark enough to appear like dusk after sunset. There are instant tent camps set up for the firefighters and the only gas station is jammed.
The Alcan south of 37 Junction has been closed because of a fire that stretched across the Alcan so the usual southbound Alcan traffic has been diverted down the Cassiar. We fuel up and head for the Yukon border, a favorite photo stop. By the time we get to the border the smoke has disappeared and the sky is back to a mid-afternoon overcast day. The truck stills stinks of smoke but at least the visibility has improved.
The route itinerary shows us doing Telegraph Creek but the road to Telegraph Creek is closed and the entire Telegraph Creek area is under a mandatory evacuation order. That’s probably good turn, though. It’s already mid-afternoon and the Telegraph Creek round trip is between 3 and 4 hours. I’ve never made it to Telegraph Creek and I’m disappointed, but if we did the round trip, we’d arrive in Watson Lake at around 11 PM and that probably means no dinner and we’ve already missed lunch. Maybe some other time.
Obi-wan
